Thank you, Susan, for your response -- I think you capture well the
circumstances facing many academic media librarians -- even those from
larger institutions. Some of the most expensive documentaries we
purchase have the most limited audience -- I agree that, for the most
part, a double-digit circ stat for an educational documentary is usually
a big surprise.
While the budget I work with is certainly larger than Susan's, the fact
remains that it is always expended before all our need can be met. A
phrase like "honor system" makes me balk as well -- I support high
quality educational film production, but I also think that it is
'honorable' (i.e. professional) to be a good steward of the limited
budget entrusted to me. This means that I have to purchase widely and I
have to purchase well. If I can legally obtain a DVD for $29.95 with
all the rights my users need (e.g. classroom instruction covered by the
face-to-face exemption), is it responsible / ethical of me to purchase
that same film at a much greater price (say, $300, which means I will be
unable to add, say, 9 other titles at the $29.95 price point to the
collection, which follows that I'm not meeting the needs of as many
patrons) because I personally want more of my institutions dollars to
support distributors and filmmakers? I have close personal connections
with independent filmmakers, so this is not something I take lightly --
I understand and appreciate the issues facing all parties involved. If a
filmmaker wants to control his or her market through tiered pricing --
which is entirely his or her right and prerogative, and a reasonable
decision to make -- then he or she cannot cede control and expect to
distribute through wholesalers / Amazon / etc. while demanding that
librarians purchase at a higher price. Appealing to 'honor' and thus
implying that those of us who purchase DVDs w/o expensive PPR rights
when they are NOT needed by those we serve are somehow lacking in this
quality --I think that is unfair and problematic.
Best,
*************************
Meghann Matwichuk, M.S.
Associate Librarian
Film and Video Collection Department
Morris Library, University of Delaware
181 S. College Ave.
Newark, DE 19717
(302) 831-1475
http://www.lib.udel.edu/filmandvideo
On 2/26/2013 9:01 AM, Susan Albrecht wrote:
Let me put out a couple of thoughts in response to this.
I completely get what you're saying -- I really do. However, keep in
mind that -- in spite of our best efforts as library/media people --
many, MANY times the only use a documentary gets is individual
checkout by interested parties. It is hardly the case that each
documentary I purchase for our library gets screened by scores of
students. Hell, I'm thrilled when I see a double-digit circulation
stat for a documentary.
Here's my other issue with an academic price vs. a community
group/community college/public library price. Not all colleges and
universities are the same! We, for instance, are extremely small
(FTE875), and while we are not poor, our budget for materials is GOING
to be small compared to institutions with 5,000, 20,000 or 40,000
students. Requiring a school our size to pay the same as a University
of Michigan or University of Maryland really doesn't make sense to
me. Heck, community colleges are often much larger than we are. Why
the assumption that one "educational" price is appropriate for all
institutions of higher education?
So I admit I balk a bit at the "honor system" comment. I am the
steward of a very modest budget, and while I REALLY believe in high
quality educational & documentary films, I have to be careful. Do I
come home from NMM each year and see what's available elsewhere at
Home Use prices? You bet I do. I do what I can to support the kinds
of films I can get from New Day, MEF, Bullfrog, Icarus, Video Project,
Filmakers Library, Cinema Guild, Kino, Landmark, ro*co, Passion River,
Film Ideas and all the other awesome distributors out there, but I do
also purchase some DVDs at home use prices from third party sellers.
I do it: 1) because my budget won't allow me to buy all of the films
I want at educational pricing; and 2) when I'm fairly certain that
there won't be a public screening of a particular title on our
campus. (On occasion, I've been wrong about that and have gone back
to add PPR. THAT, for me, is the honor system part of this.)
While I recognize that it would be a pain on the distributor's end,
offering at least **one** alternate price for institutions under a
certain size would be wonderful. That, or working with smaller schools
(as one vendor already does, and I love them!) to grant them the
K-12/public lib/comm college pricing.
Just $0.02 from the small school POV.
Susan Albrecht at Wabash
VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues
relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control,
preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and
related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective
working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication
between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and
distributors.
